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The 2018 Farm Bill changed federal policy regarding industrial hemp, including the removal of hemp from the Controlled Substances Act and the consideration of hemp as an agricultural product.

The change created an agricultural opportunity potentially worth billions of dollars, and thanks to a big push from Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., Cornell will play a major research role as that industry grows.

On Aug. 2, Schumer announced $500,000 in federal funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agriculture Research Service (USDA-ARS) to create the nation’s only industrial hemp germplasm repository – a seed bank – co-located at Cornell AgriTech in Geneva, New York.

Hemp Book Author: Prepare for an “Interesting Year” in the Industrial Hemp Sector

Jen Hobbs believes the industrial hemp industry is currently at about the same stage in its development as home computers were during their dial-up phase.​“It’s kind of like we’re on dial-up speed right now,” said Hobbs, author of the newly-released book, “American Hemp: How Growing Our Newest Cash Crop Can Improve Our Health, Clean Our Environment, and Slow Climate Change.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on Wednesday that hemp cultivators can officially apply for intellectual property protection for seed-propagated hemp, making the newly legal crop part of an existing program.The move will cover certain hemp types for 20 years, allowing farmers to prohibit others from marketing their variety of the plant.

USDA’s Plant Variety Protection Office “provides intellectual property protection to breeders of new varieties of seeds and tubers,” the department said in a bulletin

Farms that were already growing hemp are seeing both demand and profits surge, while farmers who have never grown hemp before are rushing to plant it in their fields.

Blue Forest Farms used to grow hundreds of acres of kale, squash and pumpkins. But it has since switched its focus to a different cash crop: hemp.

The farm, which is located in Erie, Colorado, has dedicated 150 acres to growing hemp so far -- and it's still planting. "We're now expanding it to 1,000 acres," said McKenzie Mann, Blue Forest's production manager.

Over the past several years, the NoCo Hemp Expo in Colorado has grown into a major yearly occasion for those interested in the hemp industry.

Compared to just several hundred participants during its inaugural year in 2014, organizers of the sixth annual NoCo Hemp Expo said they expected about 10,000 people during this year’s two-day event near Denver International Airport.

And it appeared they weren’t exaggerating. The exhibition halls were packed with people jostling to learn the latest about the hemp business.

Hemp is in the midst of another record growth year in Oregon, according to Gary McAninch, the program manager for industrial hemp at the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

During a presentation to the monthly meeting of the Douglas County Livestock Association on March 19, McAninch noted that as of that day, 751 growers, 254 handlers (processors) and 22,435 acres had been registered with the state’s industrial hemp program. He added that many more registrations are expected.

In 2015, there were only 13 growers, 13 handlers and 105 acres registered.

2018 Farm Bill Provides a Path Forward for Industrial HempEven if the consumer demand for a product is there and farmers are growing the crop, the supply chain link between the farmer and the consumer needs to have capacity to process and develop the product. This will likely take some time.

The inclusion of hemp in the 2018 farm bill has many people -- both inside and outside the agriculture sector -- racing to figure out the potential market for this relatively new (well, new to the U.S., at least) agriculture product.

Hemp's proponents are growing more optimistic and vocal each year about hemp as a potential game changer for U.S. agriculture.

The United States Department of Agriculture announced its plans to promulgate regulations in fall 2019 regarding the commercial production of industrial hemp in the United States.

Under the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 -- otherwise known as the 2018 Farm Bill -- states and Indian tribes have the option to primarily regulate the production of hemp. That’s provided USDA approves their plans. But states and Indian tribes don’t need to submit plans until the agency adopts its regulations, according to USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service in a notice to industry.